Treatment Helping hand

[JAK68]

Is it possible to have someone help you with recovery if they have never dealt with addiction themselves?

 

[cj]

edited opinion in second post

 

[Jabberwocky]

Is it possible to have someone help you with recovery if they have never dealt with addiction themselves?

Dealt with addiction how? Being in recovery or having experience working with folks dealing with substance use disorder is hardly indicative of them being able to help you (or anyone) in their recovery.

What individual or type or situation are you speaking of OP? I have tended to find it much more useful to work with people wth extensive experience in their chosen field, and I tend to have found it more beneficial to work with people who are trained professionals with at least a masters in a relevant field (folks with only enough training to have an associates degree, counseling certification or a bachelors degree are generally not very helpful to work with.

The above all applies regardless of whether or not one has experienced addiction themselves. It's great to have an experienced professional with a lot of experience in their field who also knows first hand what it's like to live with substance use disorder and other mental health concerns. But it's hardly required to get quality, compassionate and professional help. More than not I've found these qualities lacking when working with individuals who work in the field who have personal experience with addiction (which is kinda nuts, and very sad, given how it really prevents them from having the positive kind of impact they desire).

Some of the best treatment I've received has come from people with zero personal history of addiction.

 

[simco]

Like TPD, some of my best help has come from people with no lived experience as addicts. But what's maybe more important: some of the *worst* therapies I've been party to came from people whose only real credential in the helping professions was the fact that once upon a time they had been addicted.

Lived experience as an addict can certainly help a skilled practitioner help others. But in my opinion, the most important qualifications are deep empathy and clarity of vision.

Just my 0.02.


Sim

 

[Jabberwocky]

Very well put.

 

[cj]

Like TPD, some of my best help has come from people with no lived experience as addicts. But what's maybe more important: some of the *worst* therapies I've been party to came from people whose only real credential in the helping professions was the fact that once upon a time they had been addicted.

Lived experience as an addict can certainly help a skilled practitioner help others. But in my opinion, the most important qualifications are deep empathy and clarity of vision.

Just my 0.02.


Sim

Good post. On further thought the worst clinicians I have dealt with also had there only qualification as being former addicts. I think finding someone with extensive experience and education is paramount to getting good care.

 

[aihfl]

My current therapist was hesitant about taking my case on (the pdoc referred me - they have their practices in the same office) since he had never dealt with addiction in his own life, but he is a former Franciscan monk and is the closest thing I've ever encountered to St. Francis himself. He made me understand that my key to sobriety was the elimination of the need to self-medicate, so we actually talk very little about the nuts and bolts of basic sobriety. In contrast, the therapist I had at my first inpatient treatment was shit (no idea if she was an addict, but from the context and judgment, I would guess she was) and I had another outpatient therapist (an alcoholic in recovery) who was also shit. The second inpatient therapist, who had not ever been an addict was wonderful (she's the first person that finally gave me a useful toolbox).